“Since the submission of the RFP responses for Amazon’s HQ2 in October, there has been much speculation as to the best locales to accommodate this higher-than-normal human resources project. Per the RFP, the project could hire as many as 50,000 jobs with an average salary of $100,000 over then next 10 to 15 years.”

Potential Impact of Amazon HQ2 on Recruitment and Retention

by Linda Burns, Incentive Practice Leader

 

Excerpt:

In advance of drafting this piece, I visited with my work colleague and principal of Wadley Donovan Gutshaw Consulting, Dennis Donovan. Dennis has been advising corporate clients on office and industrial facilities location for over 40 years.  To sum up his observations, any finalist metro area will need to conclusively demonstrate:

♦  Size of talent base in pertinent occupational categories (e.g., technology, logistics, finance)

♦  Talent pool from colleges/universities aligned by pertinent occupational categories

♦  Mass transit for tapping regional labor resources

♦  Housing to accommodate new jobs in the area

♦  Demographic trends, especially growth in Millennial, Gen Z, and those soon to enter the labor market

Given the immense scale, he sees it likely that a tier one metro region (3 million or more population such as DFW) will be given the most serious look for this project.  It is likely that a notable proportion of headcount will be recruited from outside the selected area.  Although not indicated in the RFP, transfers from the Seattle HQ and could reduce the need for locally recruited talent. Notwithstanding these provisos, the scale of hiring from a metro talent pool will be virtually unprecedented.

 

Read the full article in D Magazine

 

About WDGC’s Incentives Services

WDGC established its Incentives Consulting Practice in 2009 to complete our menu of corporate Site Selection services. Although business incentives should never “drive” the location decision, these cost offsets can be instrumental toward the short- and long-term success of a project. Learn More.